When Can My Husband Transfer Benefits to Me?

Q: My husband is active duty Army and wants to transfer his GI Bill to me. He doesn’t hit 6 years until June 2011, but he has re-enlisted for another 5 years I believe. When can he transfer his GI Bill?

A: The Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer rules say six years and re-enlist for an additional four years, so he should be able to access the transfer option sometime in June 2011 after he reaches the six years of qualifying active duty service mark.

To make a transfer, he can go to the TEB website and enter the number of months he wants to give to you; it can be any amount of his unused months of entitlement.

After making the transfer request, he will have to keep checking back at the website and look for the Status to change from “Pending Review” to “Approved”. Once that happens (which can take up to 8 weeks), then you can go to the VONAPP website and submit VA Form 22-1990e. In return, you will get your Certificate of Eligibility which you will need when you enroll in school.

He should still have four years of service left in June 2011 from his 5-year re-enlistment, so he should be eligible to make a Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer of benefits then.